Our Stars
by Bramblerose4
Summary: This is a side story to LoverBoyWonder's X-men: First Class AU story "The Stars Burn Bright for Us." Read that before checking this one out, otherwise you won't know what in the world is going on. Takes place during the first paragraph of chapter 10
1. Sean

This is a side story to LoverBoyWonder's X-men: First Class AU story "The Stars Burn Bright for Us." which you can find here fanfiction .net/s/7110664/1/The_Stars_Burn_Bright_For_Us

You should really read that before checking this one out, otherwise you won't know what in the world is going on.

This story takes place during the first paragraph in Chapter 10 where the boys land on a planet to refuel and gather supplies for a few hours. Enjoy!

Our Stars

"Request to dock at Gate Six granted." Sean confirmed, listening to Control Tower through his headphones. He pulled the set off and hung it around his neck. "Looks like we've been given clearance to do whatever we want to here. I've never seen docking access given so fast before," Sean commented, his voice laced with awe as he looked back at the empty captain's chair. "Who is this Xavier guy?"

"He's our captain," Erik replied stoically. "What else do you need to know?"

Sean narrowed his gaze at his co-pilot's defense of their singular commander. The captain's odd affection for the stowaway hadn't gone unnoticed by the rest of the ship's crew. The diplomat was so enthralled with Erik, spending whatever free time he had with him, it was almost as though Erik had enchanted their poor captain. Sean really couldn't blame Charles; he could see the appeal of the mysterious older man, with his classically handsome features and not to mention his wit; charming and sharp as barbed wire.

Yes, Sean could see the appeal, he just couldn't understand it. The few times he and Erik had spoken outside the cockpit Sean had felt intimidated by Erik and he wasn't happy about it. Why would the captain befriend someone who didn't play well with others and clearly had an agenda he wasn't willing to share with the rest of the crew?

Sean was well aware that he hadn't come to grips with his own unease with Erik. Erik's excellent piloting skills didn't excuse the fact that Erik had cheated his way onto the ship; whereas Sean had fought and trained and worked hard for years to get gain his position as a starship pilot. In Sean's eyes being able to broad a military starship without drawing attention to himself, while impressive, wasn't enough to give Erik the right to pilot this ship.

Sean had suffered for his love of flying; constantly protecting himself from the teasing of the other cadets about his alien nature, while at the same time, trying to pass demanding exams and gain the notice of flyer recruiters had made Sean strong, he had earned his place as a first rate starship flyer.

What could Erik possible know about the torture Sean had endured at the starship academy or the drive it took him to ignore the prejudice instead of giving in to his baser alien instincts and cause as much pain in them as they caused in him?

Still Sean was the licensed first rate pilot, the one the crew accepted and got along with and that gave him a few allowances. "Deploy the landing gear," Sean ordered Erik, disinclined to reply to his co-pilot's remark.

"Deploying landing gear," Erik repeated with a smirk. He reached up and flipped several switches stationed above his head.

Sean acknowledged the man's confirmation with a nod of his red head and reached forward and grabbed the radio. Sean tuned the device to broadcast through entire ship. "May I have your attention; this is your pilot speaking. We are preparing our descent to the planet. I repeat; we are preparing for landing. Please locate the nearest security seat and immediately strap yourself in." Sean paused and took a breath. "If you are unable to locate a seat, you're probably Hank McCoy lost in the plumbing system; in which case you may turn blue from the cleaning chemicals, but otherwise you'll be fine, buddy."

Sean heard Erik bark out in laughter at the rib against Hank and was more than a little surprised to find himself grinning at the man's response. Perhaps the stowaway was growing on him. He shook his head absently and turned off the radio.

"Alright, let's earn my pay and dock this bird." Sean said, placing both hands on the wheel.

"Sounds like a plan." Erik replied, the smile never leaving his face as he concentrated on his task.

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	2. Charles

Our Stars

"Now remember; we're only here until the next shipping cycle, that's sixteen hours-"

"Yeah, we know how long a cycle lasts," Alex supplied, rolling his eyes.

"-from now, so whatever you have to do, get it done quickly," Charles reminded his crew as if he hadn't been interrupted.

Charles noted the eagerness in the crew's expressions as they stood near the bay doors, nodding their understanding but really listening for the key words that would mean their dismissal. It made him feel like a school teacher on the last hour of classes before a long break. He smiled at his crew, but sighed internally, sometimes he forgot how young they all were.

"Just do the best you can." He amended and pushed the release button.

The large metal doors broke apart. A ramp slowly lowered opened they could be released out onto the world. Sean jumped down onto the ramp, choosing not to wait for it to finish descending, and then shimmied his way out of the ship.

"Hey," Charles opened his mouth to shout a warning at him, but gave up when Hank jumped after Sean, who was shortly followed by an amused Alex. Charles saw Hank catch up with Sean and playfully place him in a headlock. "Kids," Charles whispered with affection and slight confusion.

"It's retaliation for the plumbing joke," Erik explained in Charles's ear.

The younger man jumped at the sound, his face growing hot in embarrassment as he spun around to look at Erik, he hadn't heard him approach.

"What?" he asked startled at the proximity of the man in front of him. He hasn't realized how close Erik had come; he could smell the man's body odor, a mix of burnt pine and leather. Charles gave what he thought was his best smile and shook his head to encourage Erik to explain, using the opportunity to step back so he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the older man's scent.

"The headlock," Erik clarified, gesturing to the ship's young engineer and its pilot.

Charles turned his attention to Hank and Sean. "Oh," he cleverly replied.

"It's all fair."

"Excuse me?" Charles asked.

Erik raised an eyebrow. "You know that old Earth saying, Charles; 'all's fair in love and war'?" The co-pilot offered with a smirk and a shrug of his shoulders.

"Never heard it," Charles said, making his way down the ramp. Halfway down, he turned and winked at Erik so he would know it was a joke.

To the taller man's credit he laughed that barking laugh of his and trailed to meet Charles at the bottom of the ramp, Charles continued walking, trusting that Erik would follow him. The Human Ambassador couldn't help the smile that spread over his face as the now familiar shadow appeared next to him as Erik walked beside him, easily catching up and matching the pace with his longer stride.

"Perhaps I will teach it to you," Erik offered, whispering softly.

The suggestion in Erik voice was hard to miss making Charles felt hot and slightly dizzy.

"Maybe some other time, I have to log in and report our whereabouts and see what's going on in the universe." Charles explained, stepping out of sync with his friend.

"Some other time then," Erik nodded. "See you in sixteen." He promised, going down another pathway. Erik's expression remained neutral as Charles spoke, but Charles got the distinct impression that he had said something wrong.

"See you," Charles said in farewell.

He watched as his friend turned on his heel and turned walked away from him. Some part of Charles wished the cryptic man would spin back around and acknowledge him. Charles shook the thought out of his mind. What was Erik doing? Hadn't he, Charles, explained not too long ago that his interest in Erik didn't move passed friendship? Charles could see no reason for Erik to teach him about love and definitely nothing about war, at least no good reason.

He had to be misinterpreting the meaning. Charles decided he would look up the saying when he returned to the Captain's Cabin.

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	3. Hank

Our Stars

_This is so good_, Hank thought as he took another bite of greasy food. Not that he had been lacking in food on the ship, but it was all standard military food, full of nutrients and vitamins, basically it was boring and tasteless. Hank took another big bite of his fried meat, letting the salt and meaty juices fill his mouth and resisted to urge to moan his pleasure of street food_. I have to smuggle some of this stuff into the ship_, Hank promised.

"Leave me alone," The voice cut in. Hank turned to the sound as saw a group of kids bullying a little girl.

Hank frowned. "So much for a quiet meal," he sighed as he stood up from the table.

"Hey, you lot, what are you doing?" He confronted the boys. They paused in their teasing and looked at the bespectacled twenty two year old and started laughing.

"Ah, unison, that's impressive," Hank replied sarcastically.

"What is to you, four eyes?" A boy with dyed orange hair teased, looking Hank over.

"That's rich considering you have six," Hank

"Of course he has six, that's normal, weirdo," the smallest one said.

_And the leader shows._

"Oh, right, well you still better back off." Hank felt his argument slipping away from him and with it his patience as his anger rose.

He had endured more than his fair share of bullying and recognized the signs. There was almost always more than one of them and their favorite choice of prey would be someone smaller and more vulnerable. Hank could see three boys in their pre-teens hovering over a boy half their age.

"Leave him alone," Hank warned, stepping closer.

The boys started laughing harder.

"Are you blind? I'm not a 'him', you idiot. I'm a girl!" the victim insisted, glaring at the engineer.

Hank blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered by frowning. "That makes your bullying even worse. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves as men. What kind of men will you be when you grow up, picking on girls. Do you have any idea how weak that makes you look?"

"I reckon that we could take you," the tallest one challenged.

Hank only smiled. "You think so, do you? Go ahead, take your best shot." Hank opened his arms, inviting them to take the first hit. "I'll give you one chance. But I'm warning you, if you don't take me down on the first try, you're not going to."

The boys looked unease by the confrontation.

The boy with the dye red orange hair sucked on his teeth. "You ain't worth it, old man," he said and turned his back on Hank.

True to form for lackeys the other two bullies turned and followed after their leader.

"Old man? I'm in my twenties," Hank placed his hands on his hips in indignation.

"You didn't have to do that," the rescued girl said. "I could have handled it."

Hank looked down at her. He could see the pride in her expression. "I have no doubt you could, but they ruined my meal and I couldn't let them get away with that." Hank explained, gesturing to his table. "And now my food's gone cold and gross."

To Hank's surprise the girl laughed and followed him back to his chair.

"Thank you," she said, sitting in the wire chair next to him. "Not many people would have stepped in. I'm an orphan you see, and most think I'm a drain on society."

"Where did you learn a word like society?"

"In school, before my parents…disappeared."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Hank said, and he really was sorry.

"It's okay; it's the darker part of life. I mean I miss them, but I manage okay on my own." She explained, helping herself to Hank's abandoned fried potatoes.

Hank watched her eat his food, but didn't say anything. Instead he pushed his sandwich in her direction and raised his hand to order another meal.

"If you're hungry, you should have said something."

"Why, when actions say it better?"

It was Hank's turn to laugh as the girl helped herself to the food. The girl made a noisy munching sound in reply which made Hank smile and he Hank was content to watch her eat her fill. When the second order came Hank pushed it towards the girl with a welcoming gesture.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, dig in."

"Don't think I won't remember this," she said though a mouthful of meat. "I promise I'll repay you someday."

"Don't mention it." Hank said, waving her promise. "No, really don't. I probably made things worse for you; I'm only planet side for a few hours when I am gone the boys will be back."

"You're from a ship?" the girl asked, missing the important part of Hank's statement.

"Yes, I'm a military engineer." Hank stated with self-satisfaction.

The girl shrugged. "That's cool, I guess. It sounds kind of nerdy."

Hank chuckled. "My friend Alex would agree with you."

Suddenly she reached out and grabbed his arm. Hank tried not to flinch at the foreign contact. "If you don't want me to repay you, could you take me with you?" She reasoned, squeezing his arm.

"I can't, it's not allowed." Hank held back the wince at the pressure and shook his head. "All you are doing is running away from your problem and that's no way to solve it."

"So what do I do?"

"Learn to defend yourself."

"Do you mean I have to beat them up?"

"No, not exactly," Hank clarified. "But it is one way of doings things, though I wouldn't' recommend it."

She frowned, confused. "Why not? Those jerks deserve whatever they get."

"That may be true," Hank lightly scolded, wagging a finger at her. "But if you did it, give them their punishment, how would that make you any different from them?"

"I'd pummel them so hard that they wouldn't dream of hurting another kid again." She explained, holding up her tiny fists.

Hank laughed and covered his hands over hers. "I meant, how would beating them up not turn you into them? Wouldn't you become just like them? Why not try to think of a way to become a better person?"

She thought for a moment, her face scrunching up as she thought about the ramifications of violence. "Okay," she said and hopped out of her seat.

"Hey, where are you going?" Hank asked.

"To become a better person!" the strange girl replied and disappeared into the masses.

Hank sat there with a smile, replaying the oddest conversation he'd ever had. He was well aware that he sounded a lot like Captain Xavier and smiled at the thought. "Perhaps when my time in the military is up I'll turn my talents to politics."

It wasn't until he started on his way to the starship that Hank realized that she never told him her name.

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	4. Erik

I'm suggesting the Erik/Charles relationship a bit more than in "The Stars Burn Bright for Us" but I think I can get away with it. Thank you for everyone who had favored and /or alerted this story. It's so good to know that others are enjoying my side story! Enjoy!

Our Stars

Erik hadn't planned on drinking so much, but one drink quickly turned into several and soon Erik was too drunk to do anything else but drink more. His first attempt to gather intelligence about Shaw in months had ended with people telling him that he wasn't the only person looking for Shaw. This piece of information sparked hope in Erik. Bittersweet as it was; there were others out there who had suffered at the hands of the mad man and were also planning their vengeance. But the idea of others quickly burned out when Erik asked for a depiction of the person after Shaw and got received a description of himself.

Apparently Erik's own search for Shaw was the most current news of the General. Which is how he ended up at the local watering hole, Erik knew he needed to switch tactics and rather than requesting the information, he would just plant himself in a public place and watch as word spread planet wide. It wouldn't be long until something would come up, especially since Erik had spread the rumor that information regarding Shaw would pay handsomely.

After getting his next drink, a strong local concoction that puffed blue and orange smoke, the half-human turned on his stool and eyed his fellow bar mates.

It was a mix of humans and planet natives. _Everyone has a past here_, he thought darkly._ It's written on their faces if anyone bothered to take the time to look at them._ Erik's thoughts were disturbed by the sound of boisterous laughter; Erik's attention was drawn to the table at the far side of the bar. The humans were playing a drinking game, their laughter interrupting the somber and dangerous mood in the bar.

Erik scoffed into his drink; _Humans, they were nomads, leaving their stain wherever went, using up all the resources and then moving on, bemoaning the fact that they don't have a true home. They disgusted Erik. It was no wonder why the natives of Galstir were so reluctant to invite these drifters into their community._

At that moment Erik wondered what Charles would think if he found him here.

_Charles, lovely Charles, with his brilliant grin and his confused, caring heart,_ Erik thought drunkenly as he lifted the glass to his lips.

_If Charles was here, he would sit in the middle of the room enjoying the company and conversation of those around him; unlike me who's annoyed by it_.

Erik smiled into his glass. He was beginning to be entertained by the new game he had made up and continued to play it as he filtered out the sounds of the conversation around him.

_If Charles was here, and we had come together, we would be sitting in a darkened corner enjoying each other's company, like we do on the ship, but if Charles was here and we hadn't come together, he would spot me soon enough and raise his glass of alcohol at me in greeting and wave me over. _

It was then that Erik realized that one of the humans, a male, had caught Erik staring off in the general direction of their group and had mistaken his gaze and was now waving him over with a cheeky grin spread over his features.

Probably thinks we have a lot in common, Erik thought, buying himself time before his decided to join the humans or not.

"I guess it can't be helped," the avenger said into his drink and stood up. Knowing full well the effect he can have on people, Erik sauntered across the room, and pulling a chair from a nearby table, sat himself next to the Mister Smiley and did something he rarely did; he turned on the charm, dazzling the table of humans to the point of swooning.

Erik stunned them with jokes all the while reading their expressions, learning what jokes they liked or how often they drank their alcohol. He ordered a round of his drink for the table and tried his best to outdo them in their drinking. It wasn't hard since his alien side allowed him to break down alcohol easier than the average human, but that only meant that it took a lot before the alcohol took effect. He wished his body would hurry up and get drunk, he didn't like looking down into their eager faces as he wielded magic with his words and grins. It unnerved him how easily Erik made someone his so completely and desperately but Erik needed to start his renewed search for Shaw somewhere; besides the more he drank the less concerned he was about taking advantage of others he became.

"So how long are you staying for?" The male who had invited Erik over asked.

"Just for the night," Erik replied adding jus the barest hint of suggestion. Mason, that's was his name, Erik gave himself a short nod as he remembered the guy's name.

The man shivered at Erik words and placed a hand on Erik's forearm and Erik hated him for it. He started to growl in warning but managed to turn it into a sound of promise. The last thing he wanted was to cause undue notice being drawn to him and throwing this man across the length of the bar was a sure way of ensuring unwanted attention. Instead, he let Mason feel him up and down in his not so subtle way.

"Let's head outside, it's too stuffy and loud in here."

Erik allowed Mason to take him by the hand and lead him out to the patio. It was indeed cooler out here than in the bar. They were surrounded by couples huddled together.

Mason pressed himself against Erik. The co-pilot could feel the other man's arousal against his leg, hot and demanding.

"You're a bad man, aren't you, my friend?" A rush of excitement ran through Erik at the words. It must have had the desired effect for Mason, because he moaned as Erik leaned down to kiss him, all tongues and teeth and breath.

_I- I'm sorry. _

Erik stiffened. _Charles…_The voice was welcoming, but not the words.

Erik pushed Mason up against the wall, keeping a tight hold on the man as he started kissing down the stranger's neck.

_It won't happen again._

"Don't say that," Erik groaned and bit down on Mason's shoulder.

_I want- I want to be friends, Erik_.

"Ow, are you crazy? Get off me." Mason shrugged Erik off. "Seven Hells, I was only joking about being bad."

Erik released Mason and stumbled back.

"Sorry, I'm more trouble than it's worth," he said, mumbling an apology. Gathering the last bit of sense he had Erik moved away from Mason and headed for the exit, suddenly sick of fresh air.

It was a miracle that he was able to return to the ship without much trouble. From the lack of sound in side it appeared as though he was the first back._ Good,_ he didn't want anyone to see him this way. Erik swore loudly as he slammed into a wall.

He should have known better, it was the same wall he went passed on his way to his room. Because most of the ship had that same boring grey and black metal look the engineers had built in visual cues and plastered all over the place that served as signs as to where one area became another. The corridor leading to the crew's sleeping quarters curved with the outline of the ship. Erik managed it to his quarters without further incident, since he was now more aware of his surroundings and went into his room to lay down, fully clothed on my bed. He was exhausted and his night had left him with less cash and no new information on Shaw.

_This night couldn't get any worse,_ he thought sleepily and then there was a knock on his door.

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	5. Charles II

Sorry for the long delay in posting, you know the usual things in life got in the way. Enjoy!

A bit of fluff with tonight's tea? Yes, please.

Our Stars

Charles stood in front of Erik's cabin door. He sighed deeply, his shoulders slumping down with the motion. He was exhausted. Even after all his time aboard the ship Charles's body was still adjusting to the stresses of space travel including being responsible for his young crew. Charles had to admit it was a challenge maintaining the dignity and calm mien better suited of an Ambassador of Sigma-Delta. Being the captain of a starship and its crew was taking a lot out of him, but it will be worth it if he was able to give a hand in brokering peace between Humans and Galsterian natives._ Even if it meant I never sleep again, I will achieve my goals_, Charles promised himself. The thought sobered him and he gave the metal door a much more natural smile and he knocked twice before activating the door open.

The door slid aside and Charles stood in front of darkness. The only light came from the pale lighting in the hallway, the small light was bright enough to block out any distinguishing features in the room. Charles couldn't be sure if the cabin was empty or if Erik was inside and just preferred to be in complete darkness.

"Erik?" Charles called slowly stepping inside. The moment he was in the door closed, taking the small amount of light from the Crew Cabin corridor with a soft hiss. Charles felt panic beginning to rise within him.

"Erik?" he called, his voice sounded soft and scared to him. He closed his eyes and took a moment to center himself. Taking a deep breath through his nose he held it and exhaled, turning it into a sigh. "Erik." He called again.

"Charles," came the gruff reply.

The sound made Charles pause. He had never had his name spoken like that before, all rough and deep. He felt a small pit of warmth develop in his stomach that wasn't wholly unwelcomed. The starship captain blinked as light enveloped the cabin. When his eyes adjusted they widened as Charles looked at his friend.

Erik had been in fact in for the night. The ship's co-pilot lay on his stomach his legs spread apart his knees bent in a comfortable angle. Charles stared at Erik's backside unable to stop his thoughts_. His legs look even longer when he's in bed. _

"Is there something I can help you with, Charles?" Erik's voice cut through Charles thoughts.

Charles shook his head. Then remembered that Erik couldn't see him and said, "Uh, no. I'm sorry for disturbing you." Charles started, but Erik interrupted him.

Charles heard the familiar squeak of the bed springs as weight was added as Erik shifted on the bed. Light filled the room, making Charles blink rapidly to readjust his eyes. "Don't be, you're the captain. It's your job to disturb me when you need something. So, is there something you need?" Erik repeated, looking expectantly at his Captain.

Charles could see Erik much more clearly in the light. He stood there taking in the sight of his friend. Erik had dark circles under his watering eyes that refused to stay open. Charles's concern for the older man grew as his gaze fell lower to the pilot's lips; they were a deep red color as if they had been bruised. The tall man was still wearing the clothes that he had seen him in hours before, only now they were terribly wrinkled and one of the sleeves looked torn. "You look awful." He summarized, coming to stand in front of his friend.

Erik chuckled darkly. "That's funny, because I feel awful."

"You've been drinking." Charles stated.

Erik confirmed it with a nod of his head.

Charles didn't know if he should feel upset or amused by Erik's behavior. So he chose to not say anything until Erik explained himself. They remained there staring at each other, both having something to say, but lacked the words and the courage to say anything out loud.

After a tense moment, in which he looked over to the door, Erik spoke. "What is it we are doing to each other?"

Charles shook his head. "I don't know."

"Aren't you tired of this?"

Charles chuckled. "I don't even know what 'this' is."

Erik didn't like the sound of that since he leaped to his feet at Charles's words and towered over the shorter man. Without warning Erik bodily picked Charles up and hoisted him onto his shoulder. "Ah, what are you doing? Erik, put me down."

"Not until I show you what _this _is." Erik promised as Charles was thrown off of Erik and dumped unceremoniously onto the bed.

Charles sprang so high he nearly lost his balance and fell off the side. "Ah, dammit," he cursed, regaining his equilibrium.

Erik chuckled, a deep throaty sound that captured Charles's attention.

"That wasn't funny." He said pointedly.

"It looked pretty funny from over here." Erik replied with a grin.

"Two can play that game." Charles declared and bounded towards Erik.

"Charles, don't you dare…" the taller man was cut off as Charles wrapped his arms around Erik, pinning his arms to his sides. With a grunt Charles leaned back, pulling Erik down as Charles drove head first onto the mattress. Unfortunately Erik was taller than Charles and instead of landing on the mattress with his friend, Erik's head bounded against the side of the bed.

"Oh no, Erik," Charles exclaimed, crawling over the bed to his co-pilot. "Are you okay?"

He heard a growl from the floor and felt two strong hands grabbing the side of the captain's head as Charles was pulled down. Charles tumbled on top of Erik, hands bracing him on the floor.

The two half-breeds looked at each other with laughter in their eyes and silly grins on their faces.

"It is so rare to see you like this, my friend." Charles observed, looking closely at the other man.

"Are you referring to my carefree drunken state or to the fact that you're sitting on top of me?" Erik questioned breathlessly.

"You know, I'm not entirely sure." Charles admitted.

Erik laughed the sound reverberated in Charles and some impulse that Charles couldn't name compelled him to lean forward.

"Captain? Captain, are you there? We have a problem. You're needed in the holding bay right away."

Charles froze, his eyes widening once again at the new voice. Charles brought his wrist communicator to his eyes. "It's Hank."

Erik growled and grabbed Charles's wrist, bringing it to his mouth and pushed the button for the two way radio.

"Can't you fix it yourself?" Erik replied for him.

"Is that you, Stowaway?" Hank asked. Charles frowned. Clearly, Hank still held reservations for working with Erik. Charles glared at Erik and to his astonishment Erik let go of his wrist.

"Ignore him, I'll be there in a moment," Charles instructed.

"Yes, Captain," came the stiff reply.

Charles waited until Hank had closed the door before detangling himself from Erik's long limbs.

"I have to go," Charles started.

"So go, be a captain." Erik waved away the shorter man's attempt to apologize.

"You're not going to sulk now are you?"

"I have a right, it's a free starship."

"It's not, but I get your point. If you will excuse me," Charles made his way to the door but paused and turned to his friend, unable to stop the words that burned on his tongue. "And Erik, you've shown me quite a lot tonight, but I still don't know what _this_ is. Do you think it would be okay for you to remind me once in a while?"

Erik's red lips broke into a grin. "You know where to find me."

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	6. Alex

Warnings: Boys kissing boys, don't like, don't read.

Author's note: because couldn't have Charles and Erik kiss, I used some else. This is my longest chapter yet passing 2k words.

Our Stars

Alex woke to the sound of his bunk mate's voice. "Say Al."

"Yeah Hank," the blond replied with a yawn.

"Have you, have you ever…?" Hank started, but fell silent.

Alex sighed and shifted onto his stomach so he could look down from the top bunk to face the bespectacled twenty-two year old below him. Hank lay on his own bunk, staring up at the weapons expert. Alex didn't know how long the engineer had been there since he was still wearing his work clothes and shoes.

Alex waited as long as he could for the older man to speak then said. "Just say it Hank, otherwise we'll be here all night."

Hank nodded and bit his lip. "…kissed someone?" he managed, breathing heavily.

Alex stared at his friend with an incredulous look on his face before breaking out into a wide grin and started laughing. "Is that what you're freaking out over?"

Hank gave the blonde a nervous chuckle and nodded.

"Seven Stars, you're hopeless."

"So, have you?"

"Oh, yeah, loads of times. Naturally, I'm a natural." Alex replied with a wink.

"What's it like?"

Starting to feel ill as blood filled his head Alex looked away from Hank and lie on his back. He pressed his lips together and looked up to the ceiling in thought. "Kissing is like… well, it's like kissing." He answered lamely.

Hank frowned. "That's not very helpful."

Alex shrugged his shoulders, nonplussed by the engineer's disappointed sigh. "I guess it's just something that you'll have to experience for yourself."

Hank grew quiet. Alex knew that Hank wouldn't be content with such a half assed explanation, but he also knew that sometimes it was best for Hank to think things through before acting.

"Hank?" Alex shifted again, worry seeping into his voice. "You still there?"

"Yeah," Hank whispered.

"Lost in thought?"

"You weren't, you know, offering to give me some experience?" The engineer said swiftly.

"Not really, but if you really want to, all you have to do is ask Hank." Alex replied honestly. No matter how much fun it was to tease the older teen Alex was going to help Hank anyway he could, it was how the woman who had raised him had taught him to treat his friends and those he cared for.

Alex snapped out the thoughts of his foster mother when he heard Hank cough loudly as though he were choking on something and tried to keep from rolling his eyes. He returned to the side of the bunk, looking down at Hank. "Oh relax; I was only trying to help. I'm not going to force myself on you or anything." Alex promised with a laugh. Hank can be so weird.

"That's not it." Hank interrupted, catching Alex off guard.

"Then is it because we're both guys?" he suggested, slightly confused.

"No, I don't have a problem with that," Hank promised. "It's just I thought kissing was something that you did only with the one you loved."

Alex couldn't help the warm laughter the surged in him. "Perhaps it is, but that's a very limited view, don't you think?"

Hank just shrugged, looking lost. Alex chuckled and climbed down from his bed to join Hank on his.

"Listen, we're both men of science…"

Hank scoffed.

"In our own ways," Alex added. "We could think of it as an experiment."

Hank sat up and Alex moved into a more comfortable position. Neither man seemed to notice the movement. "How?" Hank asked eagerly, seeming to perk up at the idea.

"Well there are many different kinds of kisses." Alex started but paused to think a moment. "I guess it depends on the intent behind it and the way you kiss."

"Yeah," Hank said, inching his way towards Alex. "How'd you do it?"

"Would you like a demonstration?" the sides of Alex's mouth tugged up in a smile.

"Yeah," Hank repeated, staring at the blonde's mouth.

"Let's start with the basics, shall we?"

"Sure."

"Come on," Alex stood up and headed to the bathroom, turning on the light.

Hank followed after him. "What are you doing?"

"You want results right? What better way than looking at yourself in the mirror?" Alex suggested, gesturing to his reflection.

Hank's blush was visible at the base of his neck and the tips of his ears. "Uh, right."

"Okay, come here and give me your hand." Alex said, gesturing for Hank to stand in front of him.

Hank did as Alex wanted and stood facing the younger man and held out his hand, palm up. "I'm going to show you a few kisses that anyone can give." Alex took Hank's hand and turned it so his palm was facing down and studied it briefly before lifted it to his lips and placing a kiss in the center.

"What was that?" Hank asked, retracting his hand.

"The kiss of respect or adoration," Alex replied easily. "Don't forget to look in the mirror when you need to."

Hank turned his head to look into the reflective glass. "Okay, what's next?" the engineer asked dazed.

"A kiss to say 'thank you'," Alex said as he leaned and kissed Hank's turn cheek while the engineer was distracted. He saw Hank jump slightly at the expected contact. "How was that?"

"That was nice," Hank repeated, raising his hand up to lightly touch the spot where Alex had touched him. "Thank you."

Alex smiled and placed his hands on his hips. "You're welcome. Now, a show of comfort."

Alex reached up and placed his hands on both sides of Hanks face, lightly tugging so the taller man leaned forward slightly. "Watch," Alex instructed, tilting his head to the side and nodded to the mirror. He felt Hank's head shift in his hands as he moved to face the mirror. Alex waited a moment then leaned forward and lightly pressed his lips on the center of Hank's forehead, just above his brow.

He felt Hank tense under him. "You okay?" he asked, letting go of him.

Hank nodded. "Yeah, I like that one, too. It sorta reminds me of home."

Alex felt a pulse of warmth run through him at Hank's words. It was a pleasant feeling even if he didn't know the reason for it. He cleared his throat in an attempt to clear his thoughts, the sound catching Hank's attention.

"Are _you_ okay?"

"Fine," Alex waved off Hank's concern. "All right, on to the more intimate stuff, if you still want to."

"Yeah." Hank said nervously, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Okay, all right, okay. I'm going to kiss you on the mouth now, okay?" _Stop saying 'okay,' you sound like an idiot, _Alex mentally groaned. "I want you to meet me halfway and then look in the mirror. If you think you can do something to make yourself or your partner look and feel better, try it."

"Okay," The engineer agreed, his eyes darting over to the glass before returning to Alex.

Hank was breathing a bit hard now, Alex noted as he placed his hands on Hank's shoulders. "Relax; this is supposed to be fun." Alex promised, squeezing his grip in reassurance.

"Right," Hank replied, breathlessly.

"Put your hands on my waist." Alex ignored the shiver that went thru him as Hank's large hands clasped his sides and left his hands on the taller man's shoulders. "Now that we're all nice and cozy on the count of three I want you to slowly lean down, tilting your head to left and I'll to the same until our lips touch. Just before they meet pucker your lips slightly, don't overdo it or else your lips will be to tense and you'll ruin it. Ready? One, two, three." Their lips touched quickly; then Alex pulled away. "You should kiss quickly at first, just a little pressure." He pulled away and inhaled before changing his angle and kissing Hank again. "And then switch to the other side and kiss again." Hank started to pull away, but Alex squeezed the engineer's shoulders, holding him in place and they stayed pressed together.

When they separated again Hank snaked his tongue out and licked Alex's upper lip. Alex opened his mouth in shock and Hank's tongue slipped inside. The two men spilt apart.

"Sorry," Hank apologized, covering his mouth.

"No, it's uh, good. It's good."

"No, I messed up, Al. Let me try again." Hank said, replacing his hands on Alex's waist.

"Fin-" was all Alex managed until Hank kissed him, moving his lips over Alex's. It was all Alex could do to keep up with the enthusiastic engineer. Tongues and teeth and hot breath filled the spaced between the two friends. By some unspoken signal Alex and Hank broke apart, panting and in a daze.

"That was, wow."

Alex tried to keep his laughter down as he looked at Hank. His eyes were still closed and his lips parted tinted the same red color as his cheeks. He was still leaning forward as if he expected Alex to kiss him again. He stepped forward when Hank's eyes suddenly snapped open and focused on the weapons expert.

"How are you supposed to breathe?" he blurted.

Alex couldn't hold back any longer and laughter as hard as he could. "I don't know, thru the mouth I guess."

Hank looked down in thought. "Or maybe if you broke apart slightly and quickly inhaled."

"I'm sure it'll come naturally to you," Alex offered. _Like that last kiss_, he added mentally. "There's one more I'd like to show you. It's one of my favorites." Alex grinned broadly and left the bathroom returning to their shared room. He fully expected Hank to follow him and was delighted to hear an echo of footsteps behind him. He stopped in front of the bunk beds and spun on his heel, unsurprised that he could face Hank. "Hank, do you trust me?"

Hank frowned, looking affronted. "Of course I do. Do you think I would do this with just anyone? I came to you for advice."

That made Alex grin like a fool. "Excellent," he gestured to Hank's bed. "Lay on your back with your head hanging over the side."

Hank frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Trust me."

Hank exhaled from his nose but walked over to his bunk and lay down; turning over to lie on his back and maneuvered himself so his head was over the edge. Alex knelt in front of Hank, and cradled Hank's head with one hand while his other took off the engineer's glasses, putting them on the floor next to him before joining its twin in supporting Hank's head.

"I call this 'The Spider.'" Alex could feel Hank's breath on his forehead he shifted his head, tilting it from side to side, trying to judge the best angle to come down on knowing Hank was watching his every move.

Finally, Alex bent forward and tentatively touched his upper lip to Hank bottom. He continued to place small, quick kisses on Hank's bottom lip until Hank hummed a moan and moved up to connect Alex's bottom lip with his upper.

Alex shifted as Hank placed a hand on his cheek.

Alex opened his eyes, suddenly realizing that he had closed them as Hank's hand moved over his cheek, passed his ear and into his hair where it gripped a good fistful of the blonde hair, essentially locking him in place. Alex looked down at his bunk mate; one hand clung the bed sheets, Alex didn't know if it was in an effort to keep his balance or to push down his own impulses to deepen the kiss. Alex was having a difficult time fighting his own urge to open his mouth and run his tongue over Hank's lips, as he would normally do when he kissed like this. The odd sensation was electrifying and Alex forced himself to end the kiss. There was a resounding POP! and a moan from both of them when Alex pulled away.

He let go of Hank's head as the brunet sat up. Alex leaned back onto his haunches, trying to collect his thoughts.

"Al?"

"Hmm?"

"You alright?"

"Yes, it just. I haven't done that one in a while. That's definitely one you save for someone special."

"Gotcha," Hank nodded his understanding.

"We should get some sleep; we have to get up in a few hours." Alex said, quickly getting to his feet. He picked up Hank's glasses had held the out to him.

"Agreed," Hank said, taking this glasses back.

They spent the next for minutes getting ready for bed. The seconds rolling by in highly charged atmosphere. Alex wasn't sure if Hank could sense it too but to him it was like light was radiating off of him. He climbed the ladder up to his bunk and lie down on his side. He heard the clunk of heavy boots being kicked off followed by a zip as Hank took off his customary jumpsuit. A moment later and the room was plunge into darkness.

"Say Al?"

"Yeah," Alex turned and jumped as he looked Hank in the eye, he wasn't expecting the man to be so close.

"I just wanted to say…" Alex felt Hank's lips against his in a brief kiss. "Thank you."

"You can't just around kissing everybody to express your gratitude." He explained, feeling heat spread over him.

"I know, but you're not just anybody." Hank reasoned.

"This is true." Alex smiled, as his pride swelled up within him. "All right then, you're welcome. I'm glad I could help out."

"Me too," Hank replied his voice softer now as he moved away from Alex's bunk and to his own.

"Hey, Hank."

"Yeah?"

"If you have any other questions, let me know.'

"I will. Goodnight, Alexander."

"Goodnight, Hank."

Alex felt the bunk shift as Hank added his weight to the mattress below. Alex settled down into his own mattress and closed his eyes, feeling incredibly sleepy.

"Say Al?"

"Yeah?"

"Just one question"

Despites himself Alex sighed. "What is it?"

"Why do you call it 'The Spider?'"

Alex laughed. "Good to bed, McCoy."

0000TBC0000

Can you guess why it's called The Spider? *giggles mischievously*


	7. Sean II

Our Stars

There's nothing quite like flying. It was possibly the best feeling in the Seven Stars for Sean. It was so easy. All he had to do was move his fingertips the tiniest bit and his entire body would follow, weightless and yielding. He relaxed his body and let the solar winds glide him through the universe. He skin tingled as he neared the gravitation filed of a planet pulling him down. But Sean didn't want to land, with a strong flap of his arm he broke free of the unknown planet's grip.

Feeling euphoric be his success Sean opened his mouth and a high pitched siren came out. The sound burned in his ears and pressure built in his head. For a moment he thought his skull would split open from the sound. He closed his mouth but the siren continued. He covered his ears, but the siren didn't stop, only dulled slightly.

This was wrong; all wrong. He was supposed to be flying in pleasure not screaming in pain. He fought against the stabbing sensation in his head but it didn't work has he fell towards the dark planet below.

Sean's eyes snapped open and he woke breathless. He turned over on his bunk and managed to grab the side of the metal frame before he fell out. All around him red lights flashed and the high shrill of the alert sirens. He took a moment to orientate himself. He was in his bed chambers on a military star ship. There was a red alert. Something wasn't right. He was the ship's pilot and needed to find out what was going on.

Sean stepped out of the door and ran straight into Captain Xavier in the crew corridor. "Sir," Sean saluted the older man. Charles nodded in recognition and placed on hand on Sean's shoulder.

"You alright?" Charles asked concerned. He had to yell in order to be heard over the sirens.

"Fine, sir. Just wanting to know what's going on."

"It's a drill." Charles answered.

Sean felt his muscles sink as they relaxed at the news. Just a drill: nothing serious. He looked down at his hands, they were clenched into fists. He released them at the squeeze from Charles on his shoulder.

The Captain removed his hand and motioned for Sean to head to the cockpit. Wordlessly the pilot followed him to the cockpit. Erik was already inside, sitting on the principal pilot's chair. He had one hand pressed down on the counsel controlling the alarms while in the other he held a small device. A timer, Sean's brain supplied him and he approached the controls. Erik didn't move from the pilot's chair and Sean was too tired and was beginning to lose the adrenaline rush to make a big deal out of it. Never mind that as the first pilot of the ship Sean should have been the one to activate the drill, not Erik. Sean pushed away these thoughts as Hank and Alex faces appeared on the monitors.

"Officer Summers reporting from Gun 3; there are no ships in the immediate area: foreign or friendly. Awaiting further orders."

"Doctor McCoy from the Sick Bay. Nothing to report. The ship's in good shape. Awaiting further orders."

They looked at disheveled as he felt. Hair sticking at odd angles, their uniforms wrinkled in their haste to put them on. Sean realized that he was still in his sleeping clothes and that he was the only one who was. Shame filled him. He was so unprofessional, there was no excuse.

"That's what these drills are for," Charles said, as if reading Sean's mind. "To practice our responses so that we will be combat ready in case we do come under attack. You all did very well. Go back to bed. We will discuss the results from this drill at 0800. Goodnight."

Though Charles was addressing the entire crew Sean knew that the captain was speaking to him. Was he trying to make Sean feel better for choking on the job? It wasn't working. In fact, it was doing the opposite only making Sean feel worse. He had failed and was never going to forget it.

Numbly Sean moved away from the co-pilot's chair and slowly made his way back to his quarters.


	8. Erik II

Our Stars

Erik kicked the bed sheets off his body in his sleep, completely unaware of the motion as they rolled off the bed and onto the floor; his dream far too powerful to make him worry about something as benign as bed sheets.

Erik glared at the man who had destroyed his life so completely. General Sebastian Shaw stood before him, an arrogant smile on his hateful lips and a merciless look in his eye.

"Hello, little beetle," he greeted Erik. The tall half human growled in response.

"That's not very polite," Shaw tutted and shook his head sadly at the show of bad manners. "Didn't your parents teach you better?"

Erik felt his rage bubble to the surface at the mention of his parents. Shaw had no right to speak of them. Erik was going to make sure that Shaw was never able to speak ever again. The idea gave him courage and with it, a feeling of elation, finally after all his time searching, after all his plotting he was going to have his revenge.

"I guess not." Shaw answered his own question as Erik refused to reply. "Parents are in such short supply these days. It's almost impossible to find anyone good."

Enraged Erik raised his hands to the General, as if he was pulling Shaw to him. A threat was on the tip of Erik's tongue when the smile fell from Shaw's face and was replaced with a look of horror.

"What are, what are you doing?" Shaw choked out, grabbing at his neck.

"My friend is doing nothing," a new voice stated from behind the human general. Charles's hands engulfed the General's neck, slowly squeezing the man's windpipe.

"Charles," Erik breathed, confusion clouding the rush of dark emotions. "Charles, what are you doing?"

Charles looked over Shaw's large shoulder to meet his friend's gaze. "What does it look like I am doing, love? I am ending Shaw. I thought you would be pleased."

"Pleased? Why would I be pleased?" Erik shook his head violently in confusion. He stepped up to the captain and tried to pry Xavier's hands away. "I'm the one who has to do it; only then can I kill him. Why are you denying me my revenge?"

Shaw made a loud gurgling noise, both half humans ignored him.

Possessing more strength than he showed in reality Charles threw Erik off of him. The stowaway staggered back, unbelievingly. "Charles."

"No, you don't understand, Erik. I'm not, I could never deny..." The captain started but seemed at a loss for words. "I'm trying to save you," Charles settled, looking over the prone body of the general. "I'm doing this so you don't have to. You can be free Erik, free to dream, free to love, free to view the stars."

Erik paused in his advance to Charles and stared at his captain; stunned by his friend's words. Silence filled the room as the two half humans sized each other up, occasionally broken by the cough from Shaw's prone body. "You, you're doing this for me?"

"No, I'm doing this for us," Charles replied, putting strong emphasis on the 'us' there is something oddly emotional in his tone. "I want us to go back to the way things were when you'd let me in and share your life with me. I want to spend countless hours looking out into the wide expanse of space, to our stars and dream of a better future were trash like this doesn't exist to deny us our right to live."

Charles, his beautiful friend Charles was willing to murder someone, good sweet Charlie who thought the best of everyone was looking at Shaw with hatred burning his eyes. A small part of Erik with grinning like a Cheshire inside, if Charles were to kill the general he would become like Erik and Erik in turn would be indebted to this man. Their lives would be forever intertwined; the death of Shaw would bind them together in a way that would leave both of them breathless and shake them to their very core. Erik wanted that bond. He could no longer deny the longing he had to be with Charles. To stand by his side, Seven Stars he would even be willing to stand behind him in inferiority as long as it meant that Erik was allowed to remain near the Captain, his Captain, his Charles.

"You two will be very happy together." Shaw spat his blood onto Charles's face.

Charles's eyes turned cold as they looked on the General. "I think so, too." he said and began tightening his hands around Shaw's neck.

And Erik let him.

Erik moaned and turned over in his sleep a content smile on his face.


	9. Charles III

This is the last chapter, guys. Don't worry I've made it the longest chapter ever, so the end won't come too soon.

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed, alerted and favored this story; it really meant a lot to me. You guys are the best! A special thank you goes to LoverBoyWonder for allowing me to indulge myself in your wonderful future-verse. I had loads of fun and don't worry I'll clean up the mess, later.

Our Stars

Charles stared blankly at the stack of reports in front of him. He knew that he ought to be reading them, catching up on news and updating his crew to the status of their mission, but his head kept turning away from the multiple screens displaying the tedious reports and toward the porthole on the opposite side of the room.

Charles loved the sight of space. He could never get enough of the viewing the stars, like infinite and majestic pinpricks of light on an inky black curtain. He knew better, of course, space was nothing more than star dust and invisible rings of gravity holding everything together in empty space, but somehow, even that knowledge was just as romantic as any dark tapestry of light that Charles could imagine.

The diplomat shook his head and tried to concentrate his attention back to his work. "Focus, Erik," he thought, then blinked in surprise as he realized he had said the wrong name. He chuckled and folded his arms over his chest and looked around in the quiet of his room. "I'm really starting to lose my mind," he said out loud for the sake of having something to say.

Charles closed his eyes and shook his shoulders in an attempt to relax and center himself. Calm your mind, he thought, amused that he was following advice that he had often offered his crew. Charles focused on his breathing, letting his mind go blank, only to have it refocus on his work. He opened his eyes and stared down at the screen displays, their soft glowing screens stared unblinkingly back at him.

_Calm you mind, Chuck._

After ten minutes of fighting with himself he gave it up as a lost cause and pushed away from his desk. With a sigh he got to his feet and headed to the door to turn off the lights. The blaring lights overheard were straining his eyes and was starting to give him a headache. He closed his eyes again just before turning the switch only to open them once the Captain's Quarters was plunged into darkness. He stayed by the door in order to let his eyes adjust to the lack of light. The pressure behind his baby blues abated and he hummed in appreciation for the relief. Slowly opening his eyes, Charles looked around his room. The only light source left in the room was the soft glow of the computer screens. Charles walked passed them to stand in front of the porthole.

As usual the sight took his breath away. He wasn't exactly sure where the ship was and made a mental note to have Erik show him on a map. He paused, realizing he was thinking about Erik again and amended his note to ask Sean instead. Charles pulled out his wrist communicator and sent the request to Sean to send their current coordinates within the hour. Satisfied with his message Charles returned to the vastness that was space and tried to take it all in.

He could glimpse the stars and all the wonders that it held for him and his crew. Will they succeed in the end or fail to prevent the war between to the two peoples?

His wrist beeped at him and impulsively Charles checked it for messages. He was surprised to see that his newest message was not from Sean, but in fact from the man he had been trying unsuccessfully not to think about. A small screen appeared before him with the visage of the co-pilot. Charles took a moment to enjoy the sight of his friend. Erik's hair was a mess; he clearly hadn't gotten over all the drinks he had consumed the previous evening. His eyes were sharp and in focus though, so perhaps he had recovered more than Charles knew.

"Open," Charles said, activating the video message.

"Good evening Captain," The co-pilot greeted. Charles chuckled at the man's attempt to salute. "There is nothing urgent to report, though I would like to request your company at 1800 hours. If you are able to remove yourself from the tedium of Captaincy to allow yourself a few hours of R and R," Erik smirked. "I look forward to hearing from you."

Charles's grin widened and he replayed the message, enjoying the sound of the man's deep voice. 1800 hours? That was dinnertime. Was Erik asking to have dinner with him? Affection spread over him at the invitation.

"Reply," the screen changed to show his own face. "Greetings my friend," he nodded at his reflection. "I hope you aren't working too hard and that you are in good health. I received your message and I am happy to report that I would be…" He started to say, but stopped himself. _No, I need to think things through_. He knew as a captain his responsibility to eat with the crew. Could he forgo protocol and have a night to himself? Yes, but I need to fulfill my role as Captain, no matter how inconsequential. His wrist beeped again and Charles realized that he was still recording his message. He sighed and cleared the two minutes of silence in the message and started again.

Charles cleared his throat and started again. "Greetings my friend…ugh." He pushed delete. "Hi Erik…I was…" Delete. "Bugger it," Charles turned off the device and sighed heavily, looking to the ceiling. Why was it so difficult to reply to a simple request? Charles closed his eyes. _Erik._ Just thinking the name and all that it meant brought a smile to the captain's lips.

Charles shook himself free of his thoughts and looked across the room to the small lounge in the corner. Hank had prepared for him as a 'thank you' for hiring him and his friends, for taking a chance on them when no one else would. It was the kindest gesture that Charles had ever received in his twenty-five years of life.

His eyes flickered over to the chess board, still set up from the last time they played. If Charles remembered correctly, he had been winning that game before Erik had upset the table with his long legs as he got up to refill his glass.

Charles could still hear the deep rumbling of Erik's laughter as he got down on all fours to collect the game pieces as they rolled under their chairs. Their fingers touched as they went for the black king and Charles felt his blood boil in affection and, if he was honest with himself, all out lust for the man. He was pretty sure Erik had felt something too. Charles forgot about the king as Erik wrapped his hand over Charles's, giving it a meaningful squeeze, not a hard one, and then intertwined their fingers. Charles marveled at the heat they produced and could hardly imagine how hot the rest of Erik would be if Charles felt he was on fire when only their hands touched.

Another beep from his wrist brought Charles back from his mental wandering and he checked the message. It was a written reply from Sean, giving Charles the requested coordinates. They were closer than Charles believed. It seemed they would be reaching their destination in no time. The thought cheered Charles as he wrote his pilot a thank you note and sent it on its merry way.

Charles thought he ought to respond to Erik's message as well. Manually opening his inbox Charles selected the video and pushed the reply button. The familiar screen appeared before him. "I feel almost guilty," Charles spoke to the digital image of his co-pilot. "Everyone's working so hard to make it to Galstir and all I do is wish that I could spend time with you." Charles cleared his throat and pushed record.

"Thank you for your invitation, but as you are aware, I have a duty to my crew and will be spending that hour in the Mess Hall with them. You are more than welcome to join me there for dinner, and if my captaincy will allow, I will join you for a drink. I guess the only question is your room or mine?" Charles allowed himself a cheeky grin and stopped recording. He replayed the message then sent it. He knew he ought to have been embarrassed about the room comment, knowing that there was a good chance that Erik could misinterpret the meaning, but Charles was more than a little surprised to learn that he didn't really mind if Erik did. It had been Charles after all who had straddled Erik's waist. It had been Charles and not Erik who had leaned forward as the urge to... the urge to lick the man beneath him had overwhelmed him. Thank the Seven Stars that Hank had interrupted them, Charles silently prayed. He wasn't sure what would have happened if Hank hadn't called him.

Well, that's not true, is it Charles? He thought. He knew exactly what would have happened. He spent hours reliving it, imagining what would have happened. Charles would have leaned down, until he was eye level with the copilot, but he wouldn't be looking at Erik's dark eyes, no, Charles would be watching his mouth, watching as it turned up in a wanton smirk and then part slightly, teasingly daring Charles to claim them. And Charles would flicker he gaze to Erik's intense eyes in hesitation. His friend would give him an encouraging smile and then Charles would moan as he surrendered to his desires and captured Erik's lips with his own.

A spark of desire shot through Charles and he shook with the force of it. He rested his forehead against the glass and watched as it fogged up with his breath as he panted in an attempt to control himself.

It was a dangerous trail that train of thought, Charles told himself. Pushing away from the window, Charles returned to his desk. He ignored the computer screens, knowing that he wouldn't be making more progress tonight. Instead the starship captain stared unpleasantly at the mess on his desk and set about clearing it before dinner.

00000

Charles made his way down to the mess hall. Hank, Alex and Sean were already there. The sight made Charles smile. These are his lads. He would do anything for them. They had taken a chance on him just as much as he had taken a chance on them.

Charles was broken out of his thoughts as an electrical panel fell and hit the engineer on the top of his head. "Ow, dammit," Hank swore and rubbed the top of his head with both hands. He sucked in a breath and glared at the offending panel.

Alex and Sean laughed at the flustered engineer. Hank looked over at them and joined in the laughter. Charles watched as Hank lowered his hands and pulled out a sonic screwdriver to replace the panel. Hank saw the captain in the doorway and laughed as a short crazed laugh then winced at the stab of pain on the top of his head.

"Come here, McCoy," Alex instructed, reaching out to his friend. A wave of affection came over Charles as Hank carelessly tossed the metal panel to the side and sank down next to Alex, giving the blond access to his sore head. Charles had not been aware of how close Alex and Hank were. How had I missed that? Charles chastised himself.

Alex placed his hands on the sides of Hank's head and inspected the top of the brunet's head. "It's not bleeding, how's your vision?"

"Fine."

Alex seemed satisfied with the man's assessment. "He is not suffering from a concussion, so I don't think he had to visit the ship's doctor, which was good considering that we don't have one."

Charles nodded. _Perhaps I should do something to change that,_ Charles thought mildly. It wasn't as though Hank was accident prone, things just happened around him. It was as if he was twice his size by the way he banged into things.

"I thought Hank was a doctor." Erik commented, from Charles's shoulder. His voice startled Charles and the captain stepped away from the doorway to let his friend to come into the mess hall.

Hank opened his mouth to reply, but Alex answered for him. "He may be a doctor, but his doctorate is in advanced engineering, not medicine. Unlike the rest of us, whose medical knowledge consisted of the basics of first aid, Hank took a year of medicinal schooling, mostly because he thought it would be interesting and he had an opening in his schedule. The course didn't take though as his love of science overtook any fleeting interest he had in the medical field."

Silence met Alex's explanation. Alex seemed to realize the growing curiosity in his shipmates and he stopped his cranial diagnosis and removed his hands from Hank's face. "What?" Alex challenged, taking in everyone's expression.

"Nothing," Charles replied, speaking the words that his crew was thinking. "It's just interesting that you know so much about Hank," Charles looked from the calm expression on weapon's expert face to the fierce blush on Hank's.

"Really? The guy never shuts up about it." Alex explained, easily.

The tension in the room burst at the blond's statement. Everyone started laughing and Charles sat down across from the injured engineer and his weapons expert. He felt Erik take the seat next to him and forced himself to not look at him, afraid what Erik would see if they caught each other's gaze.

Sean disappeared into the kitchens only to reappear pushing a cart laden with a buffet table full of food. Charles quirked an eyebrow, this wasn't their usual fare.

"How?" he began but Hank interrupted him.

"I stocked up on the last trip planet side. And since Sean has informed us that this will be the last meal before we arrive at Galstir I figured I'd bust out the good stuff."

"And by good, he means really, really bad for you," Alex chimed in.

"That was very kind of you Hank," Charles said, giving hank a nod of approval.

"Very kind," Erik repeated at Charles's side.

"Thanks," the brunet replied, and Charles watched in fascination as Hank's cheeks and neck grew darker.

The captain smiled warmly at everyone. Finally it looked like they were all getting along. About time too, Charles thought. If Sean's estimation was right, they would be on Galstir soon and there they would be the foreigners. They needed to stick together as the first stretch of the mission draws to a close.

Charles inclined his head, signaling to the rest of the crew that they could begin their meal. Three sets of chairs scraped across the floor as Sean, Hank and Alex made their way over to the buffet and started piling large amounts of greasy and salty food onto their plates.

Charles stayed behind, his appetite growing smaller as he watched his crew.

Erik leaned in and said. "Not hungry?"

"Not for food," Charles replied then blushed as he realized how suggestive that might have sounded. "I'm really looking forward to completing our mission." He amended.

It was too late; Charles could see the suggestion in the first statement hadn't been lost on Erik as the copilot smiled a predatory grin. "I don't blame you." He replied, his voice deep and smooth.

Charles suddenly stood up and made his way over to the buffet. He was glad when Erik didn't follow him; he needed to put some space between him and Erik.

00000

"You okay?"

Charles squeaked and turned to the voice. "Yeah."

"You sure?" Erik asked, his voice coming out deeper than normal. "Cause you look like you're about to be ill."

"I'm fine," Charles snapped, wanting Erik to move away from him. His presence was only making Charles's resolve weaken. He wanted to grab his sexy friend and do things to that he's only done in idle day dreams. "I want…" Charles began staring at Erik's bottom lip.

"Yes," Erik prompted. The sound of his voice made Charles move his eyes back to Erik's eyes.

"I want; I need to get back to work." Charles finished. He knew that he had blown it as he watched the hope in Erik's eyes was extinguished and replaced with a brick wall of hard ice.

"You work too much," Erik commented. Without another word the taller man grabbed Charles by the upper arm and started down the hallway to the captain's quarters.

"Erik, let go of me." Charles pleaded as they neared his rooms.

Erik stopped walking and pushed Charles up against the corridor wall. "Never," he insisted, his mouth close to Charles's ear. "Unless you ask me to and mean it."

Charles bit down the moan that threatened to come out. Erik's chest was pressed against his as his friend leaned forward. Charles couldn't see Erik's face, but he suspected that the man's eyes were once again shinning with determination. It was a look that Charles knew well, he often saw it on the copilot when he was contemplating his next chess move.

"Erik," Charles replied, marveling at how calm his voice sounded, he certainly wasn't calm inside. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because, you are suffering and I don't know what to do," Erik answered honestly.

Charles didn't know what to say. "How did you-"

"I know that you out on a brave face in front of the others, but I have a secret weapon."

Charles felt a fear rise in his throat as Erik placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "Which is?"

"You have an awful poker face." Erik chuckled and patted Charles shoulder twice, before removing his hand.

Charles laughed once, releasing the anxiety that had been building in him.

"Seven Hells, you're such a hypocrite, you know that?" Erik accused. "You want to know everything about me, but you rarely say anything about yourself."

"I already know all about me," Charles replied.

A ghost of a smile passed over Erik's lips at Charles's cheek, but it vanished an instant later. "I'm trying to be serious here. You've helped me so much, the least I can do is offer the same help." Erik said searching the starship captain's eyes.

As he was quickly finding out Charles didn't know what say to Erik. It appeared all matter of speech had fled him, leaving only the will express his thoughts through his actions. Charles reached up and placed his hands on Erik's chest, just below the collarbone. Erik leaned into the touch.

"Erik, why are you doing this?" he repeated, saying each word slowly so Erik knew that he was being serious now.

He felt Erik laugh against him. "I don't know. It's like the fates keep throwing us together. I care for you Charles. It's been a long time since I have felt this way. In you I have a true friend. When you ache I ache. And I don't know if you have noticed, but I don't handle pain very well."

Charles felt as if he had swallowed a small stone. It stone was smooth but dense and left a hollow sensation as it traveled down his throat and settled in this stomach. Of course, Erik only cared because he considered me a friend, Charles thought. It was a bittersweet confession, a part of Charles was ecstatic that he had been the one to inspire such devotion and friendship from Erik who had lived a hard life of mistrust and betrayal, but there was another part of him that was disappointed.

"I'm sorry,' Erik said, running a hand through his hair. "I guess I've just thrown my feelings at you without thinking that you may not want them."

"I do," Charles insisted. "I do want them." He moved his hands from Erik's chest to the back of his neck and forced the man to lean forward and rest his forehead on Charles's shoulder. Erik allowed Charles to embrace his neck and even contributed by wrapping his long arms around Charles's mid-section.

"Thank you, Erik." He whispered into the pilot's hair. "I've been so busy worrying about the mission and crew that I have left little time to take care of myself. I didn't mean to worry you."

Charles felt breath on his chest as Erik sighed and then relaxed against him.

It looks like I wasn't the only one who was feeling tensed, Charles observed.

"I am sorry, my friend," Charles apologized and kissed Erik on the cheek, next to his ear, it was the only part of the man's face that Charles could reach. Erik tightened his grip on Charles and then released him.

"Apology accepted," Erik promised, grinning widely.

Charles tilted his head back and laughed, feeling more like himself and was already visualizing the strategy he would use to best Erik at chess tonight.

* * *

><p>The story continues in Chapter 10 of <strong>LoverBoyWonder's<strong> "The Stars Burn Bright for Us"


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